Trump Agrees to Resume Nuclear Negotiations with Iran's New Leadership

Washington - US President Donald Trump stated on Sunday, 1 March, that he is willing to resume nuclear negotiations with Iran’s new leadership.

“They want to have talks, and I’ve agreed to talk, so I will talk to them,” Trump said, as quoted by The Atlantic magazine in a telephone interview.

“They should have done this faster. They should have made this very practical and easy to do faster. They’ve waited too long,” Trump added.

The president did not specify who exactly he would speak with. When asked whether talks with Iran would take place within two days, Trump replied, “I cannot tell you about that.”

Trump noted that several previous Iranian negotiators have died. “Most of those people have passed away. Some people we used to negotiate with are no longer here. That’s a major blow,” he said, referring to the joint Israeli-US military strike against Iran that began on Saturday, 28 February.

On whether he was aware of any indications of new threats from Iran against US territory since the strikes began, Trump stated, “I don’t want to tell you about that.”

Trump also estimated that the military action against Iran would not undermine Republican Party efforts ahead of the US mid-term elections to convince voters that his administration is focused on the American economy. Additionally, the impact of the strikes on the oil market, which reopened on Sunday evening, would likely not significantly affect American consumers’ wallets compared to some analysts’ predictions.

On Sunday, hours before Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was confirmed dead in the US-Israel strike on Saturday morning, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told NBC News that Iran was “certainly interested in de-escalating tensions” whilst describing Trump’s calls for regime change in Iran as a “mission impossible.”